Product Overview

No more struggling with those hard-to-access detectors. No access? no excuses

Do you have sites with hard to access detectors? Do you sometimes turn away service contracts because of the potential cost of having to hire specialist equipment or services in order to test devices in lift shafts, void spaces or on high ceilings?

Scorpion could be the ideal solution for you and your clients.

Scorpion® is a unique remote functional smoke detector test system that assists compliance with fire and safety codes and standards for point smoke detectors and ASD systems.

Benefits include radical time, cost and disruption savings, as well as safety enhancements brought about from removing the need for access equipment or repeated access into difficult areas.

Eliminates disruption

No need for additional labour

No requirement for specialist access equipment

Provides a solution for testing every smoke detector – regardless of location

Have a look at the system applications below to see how Scorpion can save disruption, time and costs.

Lifts are found in all manner of multi-storey buildings used to transport people or goods quickly and safely. They are an essential feature in gaining efficient access to ever higher floors.
Fire risks in lift shafts range from electrical fires or overheating cables, fire caused by dust and debris, or oils and grease used in the operation of the machinery. All lift shafts should have fire detection either positioned at the top of the lift shaft in the form of a point detector or an ASD sampling pipe, or a vertical sampling pipe where sampling at different levels is required.

As with any fire detection, the smoke detection in the lift shaft needs to be tested regularly. This however, is not as easy as it may sound. Where point detectors are used, the lift shaft needs to be locked off by an approved engineer (often from the lift operator). The maintenance engineer then needs to gain access to the lift shaft and be able to reach the detector safely. Including planning and waiting time, this could easily be half a days activity / cost.

An alternative method is to use an ASD system where the sampling pipe is inside the lift shaft with the detector outside. This allows easy maintenance of the detector, and the pipe can also be cleaned by blowing air through it. This however, does not test the entire system in-situ as required by best practice guides, and there is no guarantee that the pipe or sampling hole has been cleared.

Scorpion changes all of this. With Scorpion smoke generating heads mounted at the ends of the air sampling pipes or alongside the point detector, and the control panel mounted in easy reach, testing detectors in lift shafts can now be done easily and quickly.

Eliminates disruptions to the building and increases availability for user

Aesthetics and user friendliness of buildings has become increasing important as competition for customers and skilled employees grows, and as understanding of the user environment becomes better ingrained in new building design. Every building, whatever its age, is likely to have hidden spaces above ceiling tiles, under floors, or behind pipe and cable risers. Older buildings sometimes use modular rooms to house IT servers and telecom systems, and these again leave a space between them and the building walls and ceilings, which require fire detection.

Fire detection sometimes becomes secondary to a buildings’ primary function, and certainly the easy and regular testing of these detectors is often overlooked.

Testing in these environments currently often involves:

Cordon off areas needed for access. Depending on the location, this may involve disruption to the business and Health and Safety sign-off.

Removal of carpets and floor tiles, ceiling tiles, or other panels to gain access to the void area.

Engineers then have to get close to the detector or sampling pipe to perform a test, which may involve climbing / crawling through restricted spaces with the test equipment. This, could dislodge pipes or disconnect cables
(possibly even those of the fire system itself), or cause other damage such as to ceiling tiles or panels. Health and safety concerns mean this becomes a two-person operation.

Scorpion changes all this. With Scorpion micro smoke generating heads mounted at the ends of the air sampling pipes (or adjacent to point detectors) and the Scorpion control panel mounted in easy reach or adjacent to the fire panel, the system can be tested by one engineer without any of the above issues.

Scorpion provides a repeatable and consistent smoke to reliably test the ASD system each time. The ease of test eliminates any need to deviate from the test schedule.

Scorpion radically changes the way ASD systems will be tested and maintained.

Many modern office buildings are designed with high entrance halls and public spaces to give the building a more natural and welcoming feel. Often covered with glass panels or surrounded by large windows, these spaces are a valuable escape from the artificial lighting and congestion of the modern workplace.

While being architecturally impressive, these areas mean that the fire detection has to be installed in places that make access from the ground difficult, if not impossible.

Testing these areas is a challenge to the maintenance engineers who keep the building operational. Current test methods often mean:

Cordoning off areas which disrupts the normal operation of the building

Scorpion changes all this. With Scorpion smoke generating heads mounted at the ends of the air sampling pipes and the Scorpion control panel mounted in easy reach, testing these systems now takes hours during the normal working week rather than days at the weekend.

All disruption is eliminated and the operation of the building continues as normal. There are no health and safety risks once installed, no risk of damage, and a single person can conduct the tests during a normal working day. Add to this the value of a consistent and repeatable test that enables the on-going performance of the ASD system to be monitored from one test to the next.

Scorpion radically changes the way ASD systems will be tested and maintained.

Many industrial parks are now built as open shells that can then be adapted to suit the individual needs of a particular occupant. Smoke detection in warehouses and open buildings is often done using ASD systems where the sampling pipes are positioned along girders and across the open spaces of the building. These could be out of reach for routine testing, meaning any test comprises a basic function test of the detector only and not the sampling pipe or holes. There is no guarantee that in the event of a fire, the smoke can travel the length of the pipe to the detector.

An additional problem is that once occupied, smoke testing may be difficult (if not impossible) without disruption to the business, because sampling pipes may be above racking, machinery or production facilities. Current performance smoke testing often involves live fire sources such as KW heaters or pyrotechnic chemicals adding to potential risk.

Testing these systems are a challenge to the maintenance engineers who keep the building operational. Current test methods often mean:

Cordoning off areas which disrupts the normal operation of the building

Moving furniture or machinery to allow access to the detectors or sampling points

Scorpion changes all this. With Scorpion micro smoke generating heads mounted at the ends of the air sampling pipes and the Scorpion control panel mounted in easy reach, testing these systems can now easily be carried out during operational hours.

All disruption is eliminated and the operation of the building continues as normal because there are no health and safety risks once installed. Add to this the value of a consistent and repeatable test that enables the on-going performance of the ASD system to be monitored from one test to the next.

Scorpion radically changes the way ASD systems will be tested and maintained.

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Point Smoke Detectors

What is Scorpion?

Scorpion is a universal functional test solution for hard-to-access point smoke detectors. Scorpion is permanently installed adjacent to the detector it is designed to test, and can be fitted as a retrofit or as part of a new installation. The smoke test is then run from a convenient position whenever required.

Scorpion activates smoke detectors (ionization and optical / photoelectric technologies) from the world’s leading manufacturers. These include detectors used in smoke activated fire door closing systems. A Scorpion installation uses its own cabling – keeping it separate from the fire detection system.

How does it work?

A Scorpion Head Unit is connected to an easily accessible Control Panel or Access Point, (for use with the NEW Engineers Portable Controller), which is where the Service Engineer interfaces with the Scorpion system. The Control Panel or Access Point can be positioned near the fire panel or control and indicating equipment, allowing the Engineer to monitor both the smoke activation from the Scorpion as well as its effect on the detector.

A Control Panel can control up to eight (8) Scorpion Head Units located up to 100 metres away depending on cable type used.

An Engineers Portable Controller, used in conjunction with an Access Point, provides an alternative solution for sites with only a small number of hard-to-access detectors. In these cases, each Scorpion Head Unit is permanently wired to an Access Point, again located up to 100 metres away depending on cable type used.

The system is powered and activated through the Control Panel or Engineers Portable Controller using a removable battery pack or battery baton, leaving the system inert when not in use – preventing accidental or malicious activation.

Testing capacity

In excess of 240 tests (of 15 seconds) per Scorpion Head Unit

Suitable detector types

Optical / photoelectric

Ionization

Appropriate Stimulus

Benign particulate avoids material contamination

Consistent, repeatable stimulus from one test to the next

Approved by world-leading detector manufacturers

Compliance

The only way to activate hard-to-access smoke detectors in accordance with codes and standards and without the need to work in inaccessible situations

ASD Systems

Scorpion is a functional smoke detector test system for aspirating systems. It solves a number of long standing challenges, assists compliance with codes and standards and delivers radical time, cost and disruption savings.

A Scorpion Head Unit is a smoke generator, permanently mounted adjacent to an ASD sampling point – typically at the end of a pipe run. Just one Scorpion Head Unit is needed for each pipe run regardless of the number of sampling points. The generator provides a benign and effectively non-contaminating stimulus with a particulate lifetime in excess of 120 seconds over 100 metre pipe runs. From its permanently fixed position, Scorpion provides over 240 controlled and repeatable tests of 15 seconds.

By monitoring and recording the Scorpion activation and the alarm signal, the transport time is measured. Comparing this against retained commissioning data, previous tests and acceptable tolerances enables judgments to be made regarding the integrity of the aspirating system.

Scorpion is suitable for all standard ASD type technologies including obscuration, particle counting and cloud chamber. It can be retrofitted to existing system or installed as part of a new installations.

Testing capacity

In excess of 240 tests (of 15 seconds) per Scorpion

ASD Particle lifetime

Suitable for 120 seconds / 100 metre pipe runs

Suitable ASD technologies

Light scatter

Particle counting

Cloud chambers

Compliance

Helps comply with national and international standards on testing of fire systems.